CAATnews Oct/Nov 2005 - Parliamentary

Revolving door response

Lots of you have been sending the CAAT office copies of letters that your MP has received from John Hutton MP and Jim Murphy MP in the Cabinet Office, or from the Ministry of Defence, in response to your postcards calling for the arms companies to be taken out of government. Some MPs have also written their own letters. If you have received such a response, it would be good if you could write back to your MP making the following points. The points will be on the website www.calltheshots.org if you want to cut and paste them.

You can agree with the Government that "there should be no cause for any suspicion of impropriety". Ask them to demonstrate that:

• Ministers or officials have not, and cannot, act with a view to securing future employment in an arms company
   
• arms companies cannot obtain access to official information from any ex-Minister or official
   
• arms companies do not receive privileged access to, and influence over, government through any ex-Minister or official.
   

You could ask for details of the evaluation that was carried out regarding the above points and how the Government monitors the activities of Ministers and officials once they have left. A number of examples of individuals are available in the Call the Shots pack and on our website. Two high profile examples are Sir John Day and Sir Robert Walmsley:

Sir John was on the Air Force Board, which makes decisions on the Ministry of Defence's business with BAE Systems, before moving to become military advisor to the company after a gap of just three months.

Sir Robert left his MoD post in April 2003 and in May 2004 became a Director of General Dynamics. The company is the prime contractor for the £2 billion Bowman radio project, a contract which was awarded during his time as procurement chief.

The information available provides no reassurance to allay suspicion that such former civil servants, and Ministers, could give the companies valuable access to, knowledge of, and influence over government or that their future prospects might have affected their work towards the end of their period in government employment.

It is to rule out any cause for suspicion of impropriety that CAAT is asking for mandatory restrictions:

• a five year ban on Ministers and government officials working for arms companies they have had direct dealings with in the last two years of their public office;
   
• a five year ban on Ministers and government officials making representations to any department or individual they have had direct dealings with in the last two years of their service;
   
• a permanent ban on Ministers and government officials "changing sides" in any ongoing proceedings they have been involved in.
   

More examples of the "revolving door" between government and the arms industry can be found on page 14 of CAAT's "Who Calls the Shots?" report. This is on the website at www.calltheshots.org or can be ordered from CAAT priced £3.
ANN FELTHAM

Parliamentary news in brief

Saudi Arabia
Tony Blair and Defence Secretary John Reid have reportedly been holding secret talks with Saudi Arabia in pursuit of a £40 billion deal to sell Eurofighter planes. The deal would involve deporting Saudi dissidents from the UK and dropping the Serious Fraud Office investigations into bribes allegedly paid by BAE Systems to members of the Saudi royal family.

• Write to your MP, House of Commons, London SW1A 0AA asking him or her to convey to the Prime Minister your concerns about selling more weapons to an extremely repressive country in a region of conflict
   

No privatisation
The Government has decided not to privatise the Export Control Organisation. The announcement was made on 21st July in a response to a Parliamentary question.

Armed Forces Bill
The Armed Forces (Parliamentary Approval for Participation in Armed Conflict) Bill is a Private Members' Bill being sponsored by a cross-party team of MPs. It would require the Prime Minister of the day to obtain Parliament's approval before being able to deploy troops abroad; a clause allows a decision to be made in an emergency, provided Parliament can debate the matter afterwards.

There is an Early Day Motion, number 85, that MPs can sign to indicate their backing for such a Bill. You can check on the parliamentary website at http://edmi.parliament.uk/edmi to see if your MP has signed. More information about this campaign can be found at www.charter88.org.uk.
ANN FELTHAM